Tom Hanks Speaks Out on Harvey Weinstein and Sexual Harassment in Hollywood

Tom Hanks has never worked with Harvey Weinstein. But that isn't stopping him from speaking out on what is happening in Hollywood at the moment. After decades of sexual harassment and assault came to light against Harvey Weinstein this week, high profile women and men both have been speaking out against his atrocious behavior. Today, a new statement was released by Ryan Gosling, condemning the former Weinstein Company chairman's history of sexual assault, as Tom Hanks offered his thoughts on the matter, along with Emma Thompson giving a new interview. While two more actresses share their personal stories of harassment and abuse at the hands of Harvey Weinstein, Kate Beckinsale and Claire Forlani. First, here's what Tom Hanks had to say about Harvey Weinstein in a new interview, when asked why Hollywood sheltered his abusive behavior for so long.

"Well, that's a really good question and isn't it part and parcel to all of society somehow, that people in power get away with this? Look, I don't want to rag on Harvey but so obviously something went down there. You can't buy, 'Oh, well, I grew up in the '60s and '70s and so therefore...' I did, too. So I think it's like, well, what do you want from this position of power? I know all kinds of people that just love hitting on, or making the lives of underlings some degree of miserable, because they can."

Deadline caught up with Robert Rodriguez, who had made several films with Harvey Weinstein and was dating actress Rose McGowan at the time she was assaulted by The Weinstein Company executive, stating that he finds his behavior "disgusting," adding that, "it makes me wonder how many others can't come forward and tell their full story because of legal and personal intimidation." He stated that his behavior was an abuse of power, but now, "he's learning what true power is." BBC Newsnight also debuted a clip of their interview with actress Emma Thompson, who speaks out about Harvey Weinstein, who was also accused of rape after a new report surfaced yesterday. Here's what she had to say below about the former film executive's behavior.

"I didn't know about these things, but they don't surprise me at all and they're endemic to the system anyway. What I find sort of extraordinary is that this man is at the top of a very particular iceberg. I don't think you can describe him as a 'sex addict.' He's a predator. But what he's at the top of the ladder of, as it were, is a system of harassment and belittling and bullying and interference and what my mother would have referred to in the olden days as 'pestering.' 'Is he pestering you?' That's the word we used to use in the olden days, if you recall. This has been part of our world, women's world, since time immemorial. So what we need to start talking about is the crisis in masculinity, the crisis of extreme masculinity, which is this sort of behavior, and the fact that it is not only not OK, but it is also represented by the most powerful man in the world at the moment."

After these shocking reports surfaced this week, Harvey Weinstein was fired from the company he co-created, The Weinstein Company, by its board of directors, several members of which also resigned. We also reported this week that Lindsay Lohan is defending Harvey Weinstein, which has caused plenty of controversy on its own, as more women continue to come forward with their stories of abuse and harassment. The latest is Kate Beckinsale, who took to Instagram to reveal a story of how she was asked to meet with Harvey Weinstein when she was just 17 years old.

"I was called to meet Harvey Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel when I was 17. I assumed it would be in a conference room which was very common. When I arrived, reception told me to go to his room. He opened the door in his bathrobe. I was incredibly naive and young and it did not cross my mind that this older, unattractive man would expect me to have any sexual interest in him. After declining alcohol and announcing that I had school in the morning I left, uneasy but unscathed. A few years later he asked me if he had tried anything with me in that first meeting. I realized he couldn't remember if he had assaulted me or not. I had what I thought were boundaries, I said no to him professionally many times over the years, some of which ended up with him screaming at me calling me a cunt and making threats, some of which made him laughingly tell people oh, 'Kate lives to say no to me.' It speaks to the status quo in this business that I was aware that standing up for myself and saying no to things, while it did allow me to feel uncompromised in myself,undoubtedly harmed my career and was never something I felt supported by anyone other than my family. I would like to applaud the women who have come forward , and to pledge that we can from this create a new paradigm where producers, managers, executives and assistants and everyone who has in the past shrugged and said "well, that's just Harvey /Mr X/insert name here" will realize that we in numbers can affect real change. For every moment like this there have been thousands where a vulnerable person has confided outrageous unprofessional behavior and found they have no recourse, due to an atmosphere of fear that it seems almost everyone has been living in. I had a male friend who, based on my experience, warned a young actress who said she was going to dinner with Harvey to be careful. He received a phone call the next day saying he would never work in another Miramax film; the girl was already sleeping with Harvey and had told him that my friend had warned her off. Let's stop allowing our young women to be sexual cannon fodder,and let's remember that Harvey is an emblem of a system that is sick, and that we have work to do."

We also reported this week that The Weinstein Company may change its name, in the aftermath of this scandal. Also sharing her story today was Claire Forlani, who revealed that she "escaped" from her encounters with Harvey Weinstein five separate times. In a lengthy statement she posted on Twitter today, the actress revealed she was actually approached by journalist Ronan Farrow, to be a part of his story on Harvey Weinstein that broke this week, which included several on-the-record claims from actresses about Harvey Weinstein's abuse, including three that say he raped them, including actress Asia Argento. Deadline has also compiled a number of tweets with statements from several others from the Hollywood community, condemning Harvey Weinstein for his actions, which you can read below.